Piston mold apparatus



1935. D. SULPRIZIO PISTON MOLD APPARATUS I Filed May 15, 1954 INVENTOR. DEUTA JULPR l2 /0 W /344; ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 1, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

This invention relates to the casting of aluminum and alloy pistons in metal sectional molds and has for its objects improved apparatus for quickly handling such molds whereby an operative can cast a great many more pistons than formerly possible.

In the drawing accompanying this application Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved mold apparatus.

1 Fig. 2 is an elevation of the apparatus of Fig. 1.

Briefly described my apparatus consists of a pair of complete piston molds I and 2 mounted on a framework 3 which includes a head or central hub 4 which is revolvably supported on a vertical shafti so that the molds may be revolved in a horizontal plane to bring either one in front of an operative standing in one place, and the molds are individually arranged so that they may be quickly inverted by the operative.

In more detail, the vertical shaft 5 is supported on floor legs or a base 6, and head 4 has a tubular extension 7 above it as Well as one, 8, below it to keep it from rocking, these members being preferably welded to the head plates 4, l, and at the lower end of 8 is a horizontally extending flange 9 which rests upon and revolves upon a similar flange Hlwhich is secured to the base. Flange 9 is preferably welded to member 8 and is provided 30 with two holes which are successively engaged by a vertically sliding bolt ll which also passes through a hole in flange I ll and is normally urged upward by a spring lz connected to a foot treadle 3 I 3 to which the lower end of the bolt is connected.

The arrangement is such as to permit downward withdrawal of the bolt from flange 9 by pressure upon the foot treadle and permit the molds to be revolved, and if. the foot is off of the treadle the bolt will snap into the next hole with the two molds I and 2 in opposite positions.

The frame members 3 consist of a pair of horizontally disposed pipes welded to head plates 4, while revolvably supported or passing through each pipe is a shaft i l with a collar l at one end and a face plate it at the opposite end to which a mold supporting bracket I1 is secured as by bolts It.

The piston molds themselves, I and Z, are of. conventional split type made of metal such as iron with one-half bolted as at Hi to the supporting bracket and the other half free to open along the split when the locking link 2| at the outer end is released by hand lever 22, the two halves 55 being generally pivoted together at a point 23 as indicated in the left side of Fig. 1 where the mold is shown upside down.

Within the mold is a space, not shown, for receiving the molten metal to form a hollow type automobile engine piston to be cast head up 5 through a pouring gate 24 leading to one edge of the mold space whileanother and larger opening 25 is provided over the center of the piston head to form a large riser for feeding molten metal to the casting below to compensate for 10 shrinkage as the latter freezes. At the bottom of the mold project the several members 26, 21, 28 constituting the well-known collapsible core as used in such metal molds, and the central member 25 is the usual wedge which holds the 15 others in place. This member is provided with a handle 29 with a hook or ring 30 on its outer end, and preferably also a loose sliding weight 3| on its shank for forcing it in and out of position. The other two members may also have handles, 32, 33, of ring form, the rings of all three mem bers being for the purpose of hanging the members up on hooks 34 provided on revolvable frame member 7 when the core is withdrawn. Besides these core members, such molds usually have rods 35 slidably projecting through the sides of the mold to form the wrist pin holes. These rods are also provided with loosely slidable pounding weights 36 to pull them out sufliciently to clear the casting for removal of the same. 30

The molds are each secured at an angle to the brackets l1 so that the molten metal will run down one side of the piston (the lower) as more particularly set out and claimed in my copending patent application entitled Method and mold for casting pistons, and filed under Serial No. 723,471.

A particular feature of the present invention is the revolvability of the molds, each with its supporting bracket on shaft I 4 in tubular frame 40 member 3 for inverting the molds to pull out the cores before opening the two halves to remove the castings laterally. To facilitate turning the molds over, the axis of shaft I4 is about in line with the center of gravity of the mold, and I provide the hub of each face plate [6 with a handle 31 which may be swung through a half circle to stop and be locked at both ends of. its travel by means of gravity latches 38, 39, pivotally carried at opposite ends of a transverse bar 40.

A small weight 4! adjustable along a rod 42 from each latch jaw serves for adjusting the closing effect of the latches, though it is manifest that springs could be used if desired. The latches may be released by the operatives hand grasping the .lever. V

In operation, the mold ready to receive the molten metal is poured by an operative who then presses the treadle l3 and swings the frame a half turn to bring the other (previously cast) mold before him. He then reverses this latter mold, pulls out the cores, hangs the loose members on hooks 34, opens the mold by operating handles 22, 43, and removes the casting in a lateral direction, closes the mold, re-inserts the loose core members, pushes in the rods 35, reverses the mold, pours it full, and again revolves the frame a half turn in repetition. With the use of two molds as described the time element is just right to secure the best results, for in casting aluminum alloy pistons in such molds the pouring temperature is about 1400 F. and the casting should be removed while still at a temperature between 750 and 900 F. so as to avoid danger of shrinkage cracks, and. in the ordinary operation of one man on a pair of these molds this condition is assured as the time required to remove one casting brings the other to the proper temperature for removal. With a pair of molds arranged as described, one man can cast a large number of pistons a day without a single loss through defects of any kind.

In considering my invention as shown and described, it will be evident to any mechanic that considerable variations may be made in the structure of the revolving frame and base and details generally without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of my appended claims. I therefore claim:

1. Piston mold apparatus comprising a pair of horizontally spaced sectional metal hollow piston molds with removable sectional cores projecting out of the open end of the piston and provided with pulling handles, means mounting said molds for swinging around a'vertical axis, means locking the molds at a point for casting with piston head up and cores projecting downwardly, and means mounting the molds for individual inverting for pulling the cores upward.

2. Piston mold apparatus comprising a pair of horizontally spacedsectional metal hollow piston molds with removable sectional cores projecting cut of the open end of the piston and provided with pulling handles, means mounting said molds for swinging around a vertical axis, means locking the molds at a point for casting with piston head up and cores projecting downwardly, means mounting the molds for individual inverting for pulling the cores upward, and means on said apparatus positioned midway between said molds adapted for suspending of the cores when pulled.

3. Piston molding apparatus comprising a pair of horizontally spaced sectional hollow metal piston molds with removable sectional cores projecting out of the open end of the piston and provided with pulling handles, a frame on which said molds are mounted, a pedestal provided with means mounting said frame for swinging around a vertical axis, a latch arranged for locking said frame at points of its revolution to bring the molds successively to casting position with piston head up and cores projecting downwardly, the means mounting the molds on the frame including a substantially horizontal axis upon which each mold is independently reversible to upsidedown position with cores projecting upwardly, and manually operated means for so reversing the molds.

4. Piston molding apparatus comprising a pair of horizontally spaced sectional hollow metal piston molds with removable sectional cores projecting out of the open end of the piston and provided with pulling handles, a frame on which said molds are mounted, a pedestal provided with means mounting said frame for swinging around a vertical axis, a latch arranged for locking said frame at points of its revolution to bring the molds successively to casting position with piston head up and cores projecting downwardly, the means mounting the molds on the frame including a substantially horizontal axis upon which each mold is independently reversible to upside-down position with cores projecting upwardly, and manually operated means for so reversing the molds, the latter means including a handle, a stop' at both ends of the reversing motion of the mold, and latching means for locking the mold in both positions. 7

5. In a piston mold of the character described having removable core members, a rod projecting from a core member formed with a shoulder, and a loosely slidable Weight on the rod for pounding against the shoulder for forcing the member to move in the direction of pounding, and means retaining said weight from coming off of said rod.

6. Piston molding apparatus comprising a vertically supported shaft, a hub frame pivoted on the shaft for horizontal revolution, a plurality of horizontally extending hollow members attached to said hub frame with the axes of the hollow members extending respectively past opposite sides of said shaft, a plurality of brackets each provided with a shank revolvably extending into one of said hollow members and supported therein for revolution, and a piston mold mounted on each bracket for reversal with said bracket upon revolving the bracket.

'7. Piston molding apparatus comprising a vertically supported shaft, a hub frame pivoted on the shaft for horizontal revolution, a plurality of horizontally extending hollow members attached to said hub frame with the axes of the hollow members extending respectively past opposite sides of said shaft, a plurality of brackets each provided with a shank revolvably extending into one of said hollow members and supported therein for revolution, and a piston mold mounted on each bracket for reversal with said bracket upon revolving the bracket, a cross arm on each of said hollow members adjacent each bracket, 9. hand lever on each bracket for revolving and reversing the bracket and its mold, and latching means on said cross arm latching said lever at opposite points of reversal of said bracket and its mold.

DEU'IA SULPRIZIO. 

